Universal Logistics (NASDAQ:ULH) Reaches New 12-Month High After Dividend Announcement

Universal Logistics Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULH) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as high as $48.63 and last traded at $47.70, with a volume of 130662 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $32.89.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be paid a $0.105 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Universal Logistics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on ULH shares. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Universal Logistics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Universal Logistics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday.

Universal Logistics Stock Up 39.4 %

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $34.70 and a 200-day moving average of $29.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.01 and a beta of 1.08.

Universal Logistics (NASDAQ:ULH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The transportation company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.10. Universal Logistics had a net margin of 7.02% and a return on equity of 23.60%. The business had revenue of $390.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $377.30 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Universal Logistics Holdings, Inc. will post 3.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ULH. Quadrature Capital Ltd raised its position in shares of Universal Logistics by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 10,862 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $304,000 after purchasing an additional 834 shares during the period. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Universal Logistics in the 4th quarter valued at about $470,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Universal Logistics by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 799,351 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $22,400,000 after acquiring an additional 12,826 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Universal Logistics by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 65,244 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,828,000 after acquiring an additional 7,204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Universal Logistics during the fourth quarter worth about $110,000. 25.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Universal Logistics

Universal Logistics Holdings, Inc provides transportation and logistics solutions in the United States, Mexico, Canada, and Colombia. The company offers truckload services, which include dry van, flatbed, heavy-haul, and refrigerated operations; domestic and international freight forwarding, and customs brokerage services.